


At Our Best And Worst

by ChasingFrames (chasethegoal)



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-10
Updated: 2011-04-10
Packaged: 2017-10-17 21:39:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/181424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasethegoal/pseuds/ChasingFrames
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Chekov and Sulu didn't sleep together, and one time they didn't leave bed all day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At Our Best And Worst

1.

The first night they didn't sleep together, it was because Hikaru was in sickbay.

He'd spent a night on an away mission, which really was their first night apart, but Pavel didn't count it because neither of them actually slept. Hikaru had been caught in a landslide, and hadn't been able to move for hours with one leg trapped beneath the rubble. He was in one piece, thankfully, but in pain, and had to sit through several hours of surgery.

Pavel had intended to sleep in sickbay, even if it was hell on his back to rest his head on Hikaru's bed, but the doctor threw him out at dinner. "You're not off the hook for shift tomorrow, kid," he'd grumbled. "Go get some real sleep so you don't fly us into oblivion."

They almost had to be pried apart to stop kissing good-night.

Pavel spent the night in the corner of his bed, pressed against the wall with his pillow pressed to his chest. He didn't cry, but sleep was a long time coming, and he sent short messages to Hikaru's comm for when he woke. Every one of his fears came out at night, and all he wanted was to not be left alone.

The next morning, his console exploded with messages from Hikaru while he worked, love notes on how much he wanted to be free, be working with his Pasha again. If Pavel's cheeks turned a little red while he read them, and if he spent a little more time replying than he did doing calculations, the Captain didn't say anything about it.

2.

The next time was because they fought.

It wasn't a big fight, but it was their first real one, where Pavel had asked Hikaru to leave for the night, and sat down to cry as soon as he did. He felt betrayed that his best friend had turned some of the most confidential parts of his life against him, even if it was for the good of the mission, and he wasn't going to be the one to back down on it.

That night, neither of them sent any messages.

The bridge the next day was tense, and the worst of it was that Hikaru tried, at first, to act like nothing had happened at all. Pavel ignored him except for anything work-related, and then made it a point not to meet his eyes. He was hurt, and he wasn't good at giving that up just because someone wanted to pretend he wasn't.

He tried to avoid ending up in the same turbolift as Hikaru, even, but Hikaru created a stalemate by holding the door open. He gave in out of sheer impatience.

He hadn't been expecting a small, silent fight over the 'lift's controls, stopping and starting it fast enough to make Pavel a little sick. Again, he gave in out of sheer frustration. Whatever Hikaru had to say, or wanted to try to convince him that it had been the only thing he could do, he didn't have to accept it.

Hikaru didn't say anything, though, just reached for him and looked like he would cry himself when Pavel jerked away. He restarted the transport, and didn't make another move all day.

That night should have been the third, but Pavel couldn't stand it. He went to Hikaru's quarters at 0400, and was surprised when his code still worked. Hikaru wasn't asleep, though Pavel would have just woken him up if he was. Pavel buried his face in Hikaru's chest, and cried it out.

After that, they left their pasts where they couldn't be touched.

3.

The third time, Pavel didn't want to see anyone at all.

He spent his night alone, in his room, with a bottle of real vodka and his Mama's diary that he had managed to snag when leaving home. He read until his eyes ached, trying to soak up what he remembered, to get drunk enough that he could pretend she was waiting at home for him even now.

He kept his comm turned off.

He checked it once, to make sure there was nothing urgent, and amongst the messages there was only one from Hikaru. For a moment, it stung, like he had been partially forgotten. But once he read it, he finished his glass, and crawled into bed. He didn't need anything else, somehow. It would have been enough if he had read it hours ago.

She's so proud of you. She loves you, and so do I.

4.

The fourth time, they were together, but neither slept. And it was all Jim Kirk's fault.

Their illustrious captain had gotten his dumb ass lost, and Pavel -- a whiz behind the controls of a starship but almost hopelessly lost on the ground -- had gotten them both lost trying to find him.

The whistling and screaming of the natives searching for Federation officers kept them awake all night, clinging to each other, and whispering "I love you" in the dark, because they knew they'd be dead by morning.

At noon the next day, Scotty finally picked them up.

5.

The fifth time, Pavel was sure he had done something completely wrong.

There was no reason for it, other than that Hikaru had never shown up. His messages were all responded to with a simple, "Sorry, Pasha, I'm busy. I'll see you tomorrow!" Pavel knew he shouldn't worry, but he did. And if he asked the computer to state the location of Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu a little more often than a stalker would…well, no one was coming to stop him, now were they?

But Hikaru didn't leave his quarters.

Pavel fell asleep with the computer reading the location every hour, hoping he'd wake to Location: Quarters, Ensign Pavel Chekov blaring through his speakers.

It didn't happen.

What did happen, is Mr. Scott disabled the audio in his room at around 0500, because it was keeping the person next door awake.

In the morning, he finally woke to a warm body slipping in next to his -- and then a coolness on his hand. He peeked, only to find Hikaru kissing the skin of his fingers, near the knuckle, where a little sliver ring had been slipped.

Pavel never did say yes.

What he did do was wrap himself around Hikaru and refuse to let go. Hikaru laughed and kissed him, rolling so he could lay over Pavel's body, though he never put his full weight down. "I got us the day off in honor."

Pavel rocked his hips up without thought. "We're not leaving this spot."

0.

They only had sex once that day.

It was slow, wrapped up under the sheets with their heads only barely poking out, the quiet hum of the ship surrounding them in safety. When they were done, Hikaru just laid next to him, and peppered his face in tiny kisses. Neither one of them said anything, but they didn't have to, their universes aligning into the thrum like the tide of a distant planet, ebbing and flowing, whispering _I love you_ even though no sounds were made.

They left once, together, for food.

They didn't count it in their calculations.


End file.
